American Drama and Modern American Gothic

Question 1

A Streetcar Named Desire

Answer 1

Tennessee Williams
- Blanche Dubois (or Emily in Faulkner)
- reputation to live up to, finds it hard to age gracefully, her beauty and status fades
- Fading Southern Belle (family plantation)

Question 2

Trifles

Answer 2

Susan Glaspell
- feminist plays

• a farmer’s wife who used to sing in a choir buys a canary to make her life happier – her husband resents the chirping and kills the canary → she killes her husband
• whole story is pieced together by the wives of two guys who come to inspect the crime – they side with the murderer

Question 3

Popular genre in the late 19th century (+ author)?

Answer 3

theatrical naturalism (life-like stage props)
- David Belasco (innovative lighting)

Question 4

Andre

Answer 4

William Dunlap
- about a double agent
- the bogeyman of double-loyalty = a recurrent theme in American literature (because of the fear of loyalty to the second country)

Question 5

2 major theatrical centres?

Answer 5

New York (easily accessible for Europeans)
Philadelphia (more American plays)

Question 6

Desire under the Elms

Answer 6

Eugene O’Neill
- owner of a big beautiful farm
- return to realism (autobiographical play)
- his own experiences, especially as a seaman

Question 7

The Crucible

Answer 7

Arthur Miller
- deals with the bogeyman of double-loyalty
- an allegory for the McCarthy era; anti-Communist hysteria
- the daughter of Salem’s minister falls mysteriously ill
- Abigail Williams accused of wrongdoing bc she dances naked, but she transforms the accusation into plea for help: her soul has been bewitched
- young girls, led by Abigail, make accusations of witchcraft against townspeople whom they don’t like

• Parallel with the RED SCARE (1948-56); During McCarthyism, the US were terrified of Communist influence (like the witches, communists were seen ingrained within every aspect of society)
• Miller was sent to jail for withholding the names of those whom he assumed to be communists

Question 8

Why did American drama develop so late?

Answer 8

(canonical writer didn’t emerge until 20th century (mid 1920s…))

• the first settlers were the Puritans and their impact was abysmal
• Puritans despised humour (immoral), entertainment
• Puritans (WASP) perceived drama as:
• drama is too much fun, too entertaining
• an unwelcome diversion from more serious occupations
• an art from which encouraged sinful behaviour (explicit and sexual, a lot of people dies..)
• in the 1770’s, theatre plays represented the encapsulation of “Englishness” (“London in a box”)
• American rebels saw drama as: a cultural trojan horse, a distinctly British art form which should be boycotted (but it was still there)

Question 9

A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Answer 9

Tennessee Williams
- a variation of the “prodigal son” theme (the bible) – one son is very respectful to his father, does his father biding
- the second son doesn’t amount to anything, doesn’t want to make his father happy BUT he is favourited

Question 10

Characterize Modern Gothic

Answer 10

= euphemistic

Question 11

To Kill a Mockingbird

Answer 11

Harper Lee
- the gothic element is not the main feature (the girl is afraid of things that turn out to be harmless in the end) – gothic appeal
- an innocent African American is accused of rape – his attorney and attorney’s family face public prejudice

• bildungsroman /in the case of the lawyer’s children
• a courtroom novel

Question 12

The Lottery

Answer 12

Shirley Jackson
- pastoral village practicing fertility ritual (stoning people)

Question 13

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Answer 13

Carson McCullers
- unresolved pain, anxiety